The Lament Of A Broken Heart
by xSonya
Summary: The pain of death and a broken heart are both wounds time could never begin to heal, not for Sasuke. He was already begging for death, and it had only been a day. Accepting the truth was like accepting the undying pain of his loss, but when realisation finally strikes, he isn't left much of a choice.


**A/N: This is a death fic told from Sasuke's point of view. Surprisingly, I spent weeks alone on this and produced so little, damn my slowness, nevertheless, I hope all those who read can empathise with the pain that Sasuke shares with us. Having sounds of rain in the background really helped me immerse myself in the scene more vividly, for the same effect; it may be a good idea to do the same. ^_^ Please, enjoy.**

**For my beloved audience, I present to you my blood, my sweat, and my tears.**

**The lament of a broken heart**

The rain pounded at the ground so dismally; force, unyielding. Each drop of rain held their utmost of condolences, glistening with sympathy, as the black clouds that masked the sky simply refused to let anyone see the light of day. Well with _him_ gone, what light was there to see? The sun had been stolen away from the heavens above, leaving only the coldness of dark in its wake. Everyone was mourning; even the sky cried for them as the thunder fiercely rumbled its protests.

He stood alone in the barren fields of Konoha, keeping unwatchful eyes closed while he tilted his head towards the sky. The descent of rain was like a shower of needles falling against his face, pinching every inch of his exposed skin with the intensity of the downfall, like acid burning tiny holes into perfect porcelain. It wasn't sympathy the wetness bestowed him with, but punishment instead. Punishment he deserved and punishment he readily welcomed. Not only did the villagers despise him, but it seemed nature held its fair share of a grudge against him too. Sasuke felt the angriest of all though, he had been careless.

_I will find them._

Unsteady hands clenched into fists by his sides, wanting to rip apart something-anything-yet wise enough to remain still as to not misdirect the fury of his rage. He wanted to save it all for that one person. The one person that dare steal what was most precious to Sasuke_._

_and I will kill them_.

The soft chirping of birds hiding in the silence of unmoving trees had ceased; as if they had forever lost their reason to sing, as if mocking him with the silence of his eternal death. A silence so infinite, so piercing it reverberated on the very walls of his mind.

The searing golden glare of a black raven caught his eye, intense, fixed, yet unsettled as it flapped those sharp jaded wings. The sharp point of that beak parted, hissing at him in malice for all his mistakes, glaring as if blaming him for...

Everything.

The mistakes of a flawed, fragile, vulnerable, pathetic human being.

He was a fool. Such a fool indeed.

Tired eye-lids didn't open when he sensed the presence of a familiar chakra strengthen as it approached, nor did Raven eyes show themselves when hesitant finger tips brushed across his shoulder. He was mindful _she_ had been watching him for quite a while now, he was conscious she always did.

"You should go; you're going to be late" came his composed, toneless murmur. He caught a drop or two of rain between cold lips, yet remained impassive as the cold bitter taste flooded his mouth.

"I'm not going without you"

He had expected nothing less of a response like that from her.

"Sakura-" The tone of his voice bordered on the thin line of impatience, stern and commanding. He wouldn't allow himself to get angry with her, not today; it just wasn't right.

"I said I'm not going without you." She replied, with adamance and determination. He admired that attitude of hers at times; it vividly reminded him of Naruto. Right now though, it could only be described as annoying. A dry smirk was brought to his lips at the very thought. Narutowouldn't like him thinking about Sakura like that, the blonde never did. Nevertheless, Sasuke would not allow Sakura to regret not attending. He didn't need the blame for anything else to land on him. The death of a comrade was enough blame for any Shinobi to shoulder alone.

"Please" He murmured tonelessly, unable to show any form of expression; he had never really been much good at it. Sakura pursed her lips. Sasuke didn't often say that word, and because of that reason, it held the certain effect that you simply couldn't refuse. "You should go; you're going to be late." She stood silent, in an internal deliberation of whether she should leave him there all alone. After a few long moments of basking in the air of desolation he seemed to radiate, she decided to speak once more.

"It's okay you know," she paused, as if calculating her next words, "to be afraid... it's okay." She buried her head into his back. The gesture that had been meant to comfort Sasuke, she now sought comfort from, as what were once confident hands, moved to cling desperately to the soaked fabric of his shirt.

What would Sasuke say he was afraid of exactly? The fact that he'd have to face the truth that this wasn't all a dream he could wake up from? The fact that his dear beloved rival, best friend, and dare he say lover, was never going to come back?

Yes, it was exactly that. He was more than afraid. He was _terrified_. But he wouldn't show it. Why did her soft words that were meant for soothing, only make him feel worse? She was wrong anyway. It wasn't okay to be afraid. To be scared, was to show weakness. A simple human trait he always despised, yet, he could say he loathed himself even now for harbouring such feelings. It meant he was a coward, it meant he was like... the rest. Such feelings were heavily frowned upon. Naturally, the Uchiha lived on the fear of the others. Was this the punishment he now had to endure, for the price of the Uchiha pride, the price of power?

He breathed a sigh, only for it to be lost in the echoes of the mournful wind. Sasuke didn't want to see the burial of the lifeless body he'd already carried in his arms. The same body he had painfully watched as it slowly relinquished hold of its soul. He didn't want to see everything painted with the elixir of his life's very essence, that sinister shade of red. Once was enough for any pair of eyes. There was no need to see it again, ever. He did not wish to relive the wretched scene, the memory he so longed to burn from his mind.

He turned to Sakura, lips set in a firm line, staring blankly into soft emerald eyes; those same eyes he'd stared at in the mirror not so long ago, filled with the same sorrow they had tried so hard not to show. So hard. Maybe, just maybe, she felt an ounce of his pain. He discerned the way pink hair, like petals on the buds of a Sakura tree were turned lifeless and dull by the downfall of the murky rain water, soaking all the life out of once bright and vibrant locks. Even the dazzling Sakura had lost her glow. He expected nothing less. Sakura stood, gazing back at him expectantly. He knew what she truly sought from him, all this time it hadn't changed, but that he couldn't give her. She longed for the day Sasuke Uchiha would confide in her, the day Sasuke Uchiha would cry, the day where she could be the one to lay beneath his sobbing form, picking up the broken shards of his heart, the tattered remains of all that he was. He physically couldn't give her his tears, as much as deep down, he may have wanted to. He couldn't return the feelings she wanted, he couldn't give her his love, it belonged elsewhere, a place neither of them could reach now. For so long she had expected the impossible. He gazed at her in a silent, apologetic way, yet now, she sees nothing but an expressionless mask.

"What's wrong with you?" There was a long pause, confusion marring her torn features, "you loved him... and you can't even cry for him for god sake!" She looked down somewhat thoughtfully, as if trying to understand. _Trying_. She was never good at understanding Sasuke, not like _he_ was.

"He loved you..." She whispered. Sasuke had almost missed those hushed words. Why had hearing that always been so damn hard, why did it surprise him so much?

Turning to gaze back up at the darkened grey clouds, he closed tired eyes, willing to cease the dull aching that formed at the back of his mind. He felt light headed... he felt sick. He needed him. He needed his _Naruto_.

All had fallen silent once more, which had him briefly wonder if Sakura had left him to the hand of solitude again. Yet when he let eyelids part, he looked to see tears streaming down her face through blurry vision, worrying a pink lip between her teeth; as if she was unsure she wanted to say what she was going to next.

"Sakura... Please" Was the pleading in his tone not enough to tell her how he felt? Was that not enough? Couldn't she tell how much he was hurting, hurting more than anyone could ever think to imagine? There was yet another long pause before she spoke again; staring into dark eyes that looked as if they betrayed everything he was feeling.

"Y-You're so heartless Sasuke... I-I can't believe I ever fell in love with someone like you!" she hit him, arms flailing, anger, untamed. He held her arms still, pinning her to his chest, trying to calm her down while she panted, sobbing. She yanked back her arms with her intense valour, almost stumbling back in the process. Without looking back into cold dark obsidian eyes, she left him there standing alone. She ran away. _She'd always been good at that._

Was he really that cold, that inexpressive? Had he always been like that? Around_ him_ even? He couldn't care to remember anymore, his memories now were only a reminder of his misery.

"Neither can I" Came his silent whispered reply, but she'd already escaped him.

He hoped she would eventually forgive him, not look upon him in scorn like the rest of the town folk now did. He hoped for her gaze not to join that of their accusatory ones, burning holes into his back when he wasn't looking. He laughed, humourlessly. Some weren't afraid to show how much they disdained him... to show how blatantly obvious it was that they thought he could possibly-

He was there_. Another sigh_. Yes, he had been there at the time. He refused to let his mind wander to those forbidden images he'd shoved to the very deep depths of his scarred mind, trying with all willpower not to let it haunt him, but the demon inside that resided in him pleasured torturing Sasuke, pushing these images to the forefront of his mind, forcing the wretched memory of bloodstained-

_He would never_. Sasuke would never do such a thing. _How dare they_? How dare they accuse him of taking the life of his dearest friend, how dare they accuse him of creating some kind of sick alibi to cover an act he would never have thought once of committing. Yet, if Sasuke were to blame for this sick twist on fate, how was that any different to being the murderer in cold blood?

_Blood so very cold._

Though, perhaps he was to shelter all the blame. Sasuke only deserved all that he received. Who else could possibly be to blame for something that shouldn't have happened at all? 

* * *

><p>The frown of the moon ascended upon the melancholy village, made visible through the crack in an overhead of grey clouds, allowing for the night to embrace the misty sky. Sasuke clung tightly to the rusty wet iron bars of the cemetery gates; the cold familiarity of it made him shudder slightly, as the days of his childhood flooded his memories.<p>

What little dim lighting the moon offered, just about revealed to him a silhouette of who he recognised as Sakura's lonely, trembling form, huddled over the patch of land he was certain their beloved best friend lay beneath. The scene had vividly reminded him of the younger years of his life, which only seemed yesterday, where he would sit mourning for his parents on the grass, cold, afraid, and most dreadfully, alone. Standing here now only made him think how history had dismally repeated itself. Sasuke had lost his entire world again... He had lost the one person he would gladly give his life to save. Was there ever any mercy to be granted in this endless cycle of life and death?

He closed his eyes, resting his head between two bars as he clung tighter to the rusty irons, wordlessly begging for deliverance from this burden of blame; a feeling he was not unfamiliar with. He pulled away, turning his gaze to the sky, with a glimmer in his eye that asked but a simple question.

_Why him? _

Sasuke would do anything to switch places with him and let Naruto live the life he loved so much, the very happiness his life thrived on. He glanced over at Sakura's form once more, having so intently been watching her that he hadn't noticed the figure standing behind him, with the silence of a killer in the night. The voice had almost startled him, but he remained impassive as he realised the smooth tone at his ear belonged to no stranger.

"It's not your fault" Kakashi spoke with seriousness, a tone he reserved only for moments of utmost importance. How many times had Sasuke told himself the same thing? How could he possibly let himself off so easily though?

"You're not helping yourself by thinking like that," as if his sensei could read his mind, he continued, "you have no reason to feel responsible." Kakashi spoke as if he'd witnessed it all, as if he knew what had happened, as if he too had watched how his student's body was slowly drained of any sign of life, as if he had held Naruto in his arms as he was taking his dying breath, as if he had heard those godforsaken final words of his.

Sasuke had no reason to feel responsible? Oh how he'd love to believe those very words his teacher now spoke. He should've protected him- he should've been there. He should've saved him.  
>But what could he do? <em>Nothing<em>. Powerlessness had never sat well with Sasuke; it was consuming feeling that never would.

The Uchiha remained silent, his impassive demeanour remaining in-tact as he dare not spare a look in Kakashi's direction, lest it falter. He didn't want to see that look in misty eyes: the look of pity, the look of sympathy. He didn't want sympathy, not from him; not from anyone. Sasuke missed the way Kakashi shook his head in defeat. He was one of the people that understood the Uchiha all too well and Sasuke knew it..._ Perhaps a little too well for comfort_. The silverette knew he could do or say anything further to relieve his student of what he was sure running through his thoughts and clouding his feelings. Kakashi even felt disappointed at the fact he couldn't help Sasuke, especially when he needed it the most. The best he could do now at least was comfort Sakura, he owed her that much.

"The Uchiha name is nothing but a burden to you now." Kakashi began to walk away from him, towards the broken girl they had been watching in the distance. "Don't do anything reckless," he offered a final murmur of advice as his words faded with his growing distance. Sasuke glanced at the retreating figure, only to observe the following scene unfolding before him.

Kakashi took Sakura in a firm hug, as she freely let her sorrow glistened down drained, pale cheeks. He stood in the distance for a long time, simply watching. He watched as she cried for the both of them, as she clung to the body of their tutor as though he were some kind of life support. He watched as she gradually calmed, and how in a desperate act of comfort, their sensei slung his arm around Sakura's shoulder as they finally retreat the grave together. Sasuke knew it should've been him embracing her, yet he just stood there, as neither noticed his dull raven stare glowing in the shadows. He could do nothing.

Plucking up the courage to move, he let his arms fall by his sides, forcing his legs to move through the gate that separated him from what he had been trying so hard to ignore, so hard to run away from, so hard to disbelieve. He moved with a guarded, yet hesitant caution down the jaded path the open cemetery gates revealed to him, almost tiptoeing his way through the smothering of overgrown display of vines, weeds and wild flowers. The unkempt field went on for miles, scattered with the gravestones of the many previously deceased, albeit once proud shinobi. Sasuke paused in his step. The sudden want to turn back began pulling at his feet. It was like the vines had somehow come to life, wrapping firmly around his ankles like shackles, stopping him from moving any further. As much as he would gratefully allow the vines pull him back into blissful ignorance, he had to face this; he couldn't run away from it anymore. Kicking his feet free from the imaginary vines that bound him, he continued his descent, finally approaching the land of rest.

He looked upon the smooth surface of the new, small slab of stone as it glistened and shined with wave after wave of freshly fallen rainwater. It looked just like the rest, jutting out of the ground; it was nothing special, nothing like he deserved. The only difference from the thousands of other stone squares was its unmarred exterior, absent of the chips and cracks that came with age.  
>Sasuke frowned, as he gazed upon the absence of flowers; he forgot to bring some of his own. Lillies. Naruto had always loved lilies. Especially ones of the orange variety. The colour orange for a flower had always stroke Sasuke as quite odd. It was different, but that was what he had liked about Naruto so much, <em>he was different<em>.

He would bring one the next time he came, as much as it pained him to be here, to even begin to think about attempting to talk to him like this. A stupid stone didn't stand for half of what Naruto stood for. Once in all his pride and glory, was this all he was reduced to, a mere chunk of rock that was nothing other than a silly memento? It wasn't enough. It would never be enough.

He could feel his body begin to tremble uncontrollably, his jaw clenching tightly as his legs regretfully brought him closer to what remained. With a frown marring his features, he forced himself to look at it properly. As if to say, '_It's just you and me now_', the grave stared him back in the face. There was no escaping it now, the dismal truth.

He read the intricate designed carved on the epitaph. "_Uzumaki Naruto..._ _A once determined Shinobi, and loving friend to all_" Upon such words staring him in the face, only then did it hit him with everything it had, oh all too hard. He was reunited with the love of his sorrow once more; allowing the first and final tear fall from Raven eyes. The harshness of reality smacked him right in the face, punched him in the stomach, and stabbed him in the back, like the sting of a best friend's very betrayal.

"Why did I have to lose you?"

He closed his eyes, falling with a splash in the mud to his knees, drowning in hopeless surrender. He dug at the soil with trembling fingers, wishing the ground to swallow him, to consume him, all so he could be reunited with his lover once again. The rain soaked smell of freshly ploughed soil, assaulted his senses, prominent, unwelcoming. He had half expected that same nauseating smell of blood and death to hang like the thickness of fog in the air, just as it had been that night. He shook his head, refusing to remind himself of that grim fateful day, instead, he lifted his fallen gaze, eyes focusing on the epitaph once more, letting it sink in, as for a last time, he allowed himself to remember everything, remember everything that he could hold true to those words. He let his eyes fall closed again, allowing him to picture everything.

Those golden blonde locks, they were the ever shining sun in Sasuke's life. He was the day to his night and the eternal light to his infinite darkness. He was that ray of hope in all the hopelessness that drowned him, and all the joy in his endless misery. The passion in his smile could've put the happiest person alive to shame, dare say it even brought a smile to surface on the lips of the tormented. Those deep cerulean eyes held the brightness of the thousand stars that lit the dark night sky, the darkness in his heart. Naruto once re-sparked that distant hope of a future that had once been so out of grasp.

He alone, was a sight itself to behold: his eyes, an endless, captivating ocean of blue, pulling Sasuke in, its waves of compassion and joy leading his helpless self by the hand. The comforting warmth of that simple gaze was enough to melt the cold iciness that so thickly coated his heart, to teach the scared, lonely little boy that had been hidden inside for so very long, that it was okay to be himself, okay to open up every once in a while.

With a determination strong enough to kill, yet compassion so strong you couldn't help but endlessly fall for such a face. He held an irrevocable care for his loved ones, and the unconditional need to direly protect all those ever close to him with his life; truly admirable, yet before now, Sasuke would never admit any of it. His pride would simply not allow it. Damn Uchiha pride.

Naruto was like a suffocating happiness that would make him sick to his stomach, the same happiness that had infected him like a virus; he had at the same time reluctantly welcomed. The love was strong, lighting the undying flames of hot red passion itself. Yet flames would always go out... His flame had died. Their love now was but the mere dying embers of a tirade of flames once so great, yet now lay lost and forgotten, mere shadowed remains of its former self.

Naruto had once been the bridge to freedom he had craved desperately for back then and even now, the warmth and love of the soft and tender blonde was what he'd sought out all along. He had been his door to a new beginning, and a fresh start. Naruto was his addiction. _His_. He ran purely on the taste of him, the feel of him, the smell of him, the memory of that laughter ringing in his ear, yet it did nothing to sooth the rekindling darkness that spread like a virus through him, clawing in sharp tendrils, dragging him back into that infamous pit of black flames. He wasn't ready to be plunged into that cold unforgiving world of darkness, not again.

Now that he was gone there was nothing to stop the heavy moon of despair that forever hung over Sasuke from eternally eclipsing his sun. The darkness he'd run away from for so long was threatening to engulf him in its unwelcoming rough blanket of darkness once again, tendrils of solid despair clawing him back into the soiled ruins that once made him all that he was, swallowing him entirely. No mercy. None whatsoever. But did he deserve any? Did he honestly, truly deserve any?

How could he escape such a fate without his fuzzy ball of hope, without the feather that lay on the pillow of his very dreams, without the cause of both such an overwhelming pleasure and love to course through his heart and soul? How was he meant to stop himself from falling back into nothingness again?

The one thing he relied on so dearly, and the one thing he'd held close to his heart. They had taken away who he'd adored most, the one person that could keep him stable. And he had let them. It must've been such an effortless feat.  
>A heart wrenching pain, strong enough to kill a thousand men made of stone; that was all it took for the same tears that the blonde could no longer cry to fall from raven eyes.<p>

Tears that had once been promised no longer to be shed.  
>Yet, how could he help himself? How could he be expected not to cry, when all that ever made him what he was today, had vanished as though never existed? A shaky sigh was drawn from rain drenched lips. All he wanted his featherbrained friend back by his side once more, that careless smile of his lighting up the entire room, and eyes that shined bright enough to rival the suns burning glow.<p>

Those three simple words.

He longed to hear them once again, to validate they were real this entire time, to prove he hadn't just imagined everything, and that he had once truly been loved. Those three simple words were enough. They could always make Sasuke the happiest man that ever lived on the face of such a corrupted earth, a world so decrepit and destroyed; even if he didn't visibly show it.  
>That was all he wanted.<p>

'_I love you'_

They were the same three words that could break Sasuke, and break Sasuke alone.

'Please Sasuke, forgive me' The fleeting memory made his entire body shudder with dread.

Nothing could ever make him feel a regret and remorse so strong; no one would never able to feel that same burning fire of the flames of hatred so strongly, one that rivalled the pits of hell itself. The same person that had drove him out of the darkness had led him back in so mercilessly. The same person had the nerve to blame himself for this mistake.

Physically unable to stop the water behind his lids, he forced damp eyes closed tightly, raking his hands through the wet muddy plane of soil beneath him, unsure whether it was the persistent shameless tears the soil now readily absorbed, or if it was what the remnants of the rain had left behind. He was exactly like these remnants, left behind to fend for themselves. Broken and alone, nostalgically longing for what once was.  
>'<em>Time heals all wounds'<em> they say, yet Sasuke was sure this wound was too deep for any amount of time, or medical ninjutsu to ever heal. The pain of a broken heart was a wound that never healed.  
>Sasuke was already begging for death, <em>and it had only been a day<em>.

"I love you too... _Naruto_" One never spoke these words out loud, these words he was sure he always knew, yet now, he could only desperately choke out each word through his uncontrolled sobs, hoping his words carried to wherever his beloved was now. He clenched his jaw tightly, finger nails digging deeper, as if trying to bring him back, longingly trying to bring _his_ Naruto back.

It was Impossible.

Impossible to bring back the rival they'd shared that made their bond so formidable, impossible to bring back their undying friendship, and a love once so great. He remembered, for so long, Sasuke had always been striving to become better than him, to achieve something greater. Naruto had always been someone everyone admired, someone everyone looked up to, someone everyone could depend on, rely on. Maybe he wanted that too, for people to feel about him like that. Maybe. Was it jealousy that drove him forward all that time, or perhaps he strived to be more like Naruto? Not that he'd ever admit something like that out loud, or well, even refused to admit it to himself.

But none of that mattered now, did it?

That rivalry... that friendship... that bond. What was it all now? Though, how could it still feel so strong, even now their ties had been permanently severed?

_I can still feel it Naruto...I can feel **you**. _This string that binds me to you... What is it that makes it resonate so strong? So powerfully?

"Sasuke..."

Even though he's gone, his voice still appears so vivid, as though it might truly be real. He hangs his head low, bangs shrouding his eyes in darkness. "Naruto..." His voice now is but a gentle, sorrowful whisper.

"Sasuke, turn around" The voice yet again, but he ignores the ghostly request, knowing it's his mind playing cruel tricks on him; had it not had enough for one day? Could he not just be left at peace? He is teased with the agonising longing to follow the voice, but it's too painful to gaze upon a transparent image; it will hurt too much knowing as soon as he does, it will simply vanish. He frowns beneath the shadow masking his face, as he feels the sudden warmth and security of those all too familiar arms envelope his waist, comforting his trembling form, yet it only serves to make the guilt well up deep inside him. He doesn't reach to grasp the arms wound at his waist, afraid to hold on, knowing he'll only grasp nothing but cold air in its wake, but for just a moment, he allows himself to get caught up in this faux reality as he leans into the warmth it feels years since he's basked in. Gently resting his head back, he reveals tear-stained cheeks.

"It's okay Sasuke, I'm here" The voice comes as but a mere hushed whisper. "I'm alive" It sounds breathless; voice soft, yet breathless.

He lets his eyes fall close, able to relax for the first time in what seems like a lifetime, though he still refuses to turn around, stubbornly still refusing to succumb to the bliss of this delusion, yet he slowly feels himself falling under its charm. It's a petty hallucination, he knows; but, it's his biggest weakness. Could a man hardly blame him, for wanting to even allow himself indulge in this short-lived fantasy?

The strong embrace of his beloved dissipates, and for just a brief time, Sasuke believes to be at peace once again. Yet all in that same moment, the taunting, tormenting touch was back. Two soft hands had settled themselves to cup his pale, damp cheeks. The silky smoothness of those two gentle thumbs, with a slow hesitance in their movement, wiped away the lament of his broken heart. He disregards the all too realistic warm feel of skin against skin.

_He couldn't let himself forget; an illusion was all it was, was all it could be._

He tries to ignore the pair of lips he knows so well that now hover over his own, and tries even harder to ignore the warm breath caressing the length of his lips, like the touch of a lover, the touch of the lover he's missed so much. Sasuke is shaking, he doesn't realise it, but he's shaking. He fights a long, hard internal battle, not to submit to the desire to reach out for the figure, knowing it will only disappear if he dares to test how real this fantasy really is, to what limit it will truly torment him.  
>It still doesn't stop his lip quivering with an unadulterated desire, an utter need.<p>

"Sasuke" The voice breathes once again, before the tender familiarity of delicate lips lightly cover his own. With a desperate gasp, the action alone threatens to steal away his breath as he tries not to respond to what seems most natural to him. But he can't help it, and as though no other reaction deems fitting, he moves his lips along with the soft rhythm, slow and sensual, yet desperate and needy; the kind of kiss the reunion of lovers would give each other, if after what seemed like an eternity, they met again.

Sasuke's arms strain, he doesn't want to reach out, lest the beautiful illusion disappear, lest it leave him alone for a second time. He doesn't want this reality to fall.

He tries.

And he fails. A hand that crumbles to the will of his need stretches out, a limb once limp and motionless by his side falls instead to rest at the hand on his cheek. As though instinctual, the other firmly pulls the body closer to him, tight, afraid to let go again. For just a moment, he embraces the body in his arms, he allows himself to grasp to the mere illusion, if be it for just fading seconds.  
><em><br>He embraces this illusion as though his life depended on it_.

Mere seconds passed, yet he was held captive in this boundless hallucination, with an endless and undying tension clawing at his being, pressuring his very existence, forcing him to pant breathlessly as he waited for the inevitable... _Don't disappear, not yet, not now._

"I wish you were real" Sasuke gasped out, as though a desperate plea, praying to whatever out there, that he would be shown some mercy for his pitiless mistakes that his beloved wouldn't have to pay his life for.

"Open your eyes Sasuke" He hesitates, he falters, almost surrendering to the request; it seemed natural; he always did anything Naruto asked of him. "Open them" Falling whim to his persistence, he foolishly allows his eyelids to flutter open.

And he never wanted to close them to the sight again. Fluffy short blonde locks graced his vision, and the burning familiarity of that smouldering, rich, blue gaze, bore into his own, as he stared at unstained, untainted, pure tanned skin. Sasuke could feel his eyes sting, wide with disbelief, relief, wonder, regret. The tears now, they fell so openly; he didn't care anymore. Sasuke held on tightly to the body, leaving no way for Naruto to escape. Burying his head in the welcoming crook of his creamy neck, he cried out like he never had before while the skin muffled his screams. Tightening his hold under impulse, he grasped the figure as though he wanted to absorb his very existence.

_Never... He never wanted to let go. Never again._

"Go easy on me Sasuke" The familiar ring of that light laughter echoed in his ear.

"I love you Naruto" His tone was laced with seriousness, and an underlying hint of regret that would forever be present. He was so scared; he didn't ever want to have to give him up again. He was given a second chance, he couldn't possibly fuck up. "I love you so much" he paused, sniffling "So much, it hurts" The overwhelming emptiness that ate at his chest slowly faded, replaced with an emotion even greater. The pain of loss would always hold a place in his heart, but the ever growing relief that now embodied him would be there to counter it.

Blinking the tears away, Sasuke finally moved back, looking for the face that stunned him but moments ago, yet as though never there, he was grasping the thin of very air. The relief that drowned him but seconds before vanished as he stumbled forward into the nothingness that stood in Naruto's wake.  
><span><br>In that moment of sheer agony, the pain of loss could never be greater; as his frantically shaking hands cradled and clawed at his pounding head. He thought the crippling affliction drowning his heart would truly kill him. 

His damned mind had never been so cruel.

**A/N: This was originally supposed to have a happy ending, and I hadn't intended to have an Angel beats style ending, but I just let my fingers do their thing. I had planned to make this a multi-chapter fic too, but I guess now that would depend if people like this or not, so I hope to hear from whoever reads this, I'll be most honoured to receive, and read your reviews.**

**Please do let me know what you think; I look forward to your opinions. :)**


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